Rockstar Games has once more released a weekly update for GTA Online, this time the update is probably going to lure the players into it because of the earnings that are being magnified up to three times in the Community Combat Series. A new change has been instituted in the Sumo mode and in a somewhat wild manner that is involving changing of vehicles; this was the idea of the community member kerlanhogan. In addition to that, the Deadline mode has been reintroduced in the Featured Series with a promise of double rewards for every participant. The current influx of content is still in line with Rockstar‘s custom of promoting community creations and providing fresh boosts in incentives; however, players’ responses have been noticeably mixed.
What actually is this Transform Sumo? To put it simply, the traditional Sumo mode where the objective is to push other vehicles off the platform has been altered and this time you have the amazing vehicles participating as well. Just like in the case of a compact car, you suddenly transform into a jet, then into a submarine, and erstwhile you are back to a van; and all of this is going on while you are trying not to be pushed off and the countdown is at three seconds. Instead of traditional sumo wrestling, one player aptly summed it up as extreme vehicular anxiety. The creator kerlanhogan is responsible for this madness and must be thanked for giving us this crazy idea that can double your rewards and your therapy bills as well.
The players’ reactions to the announcement have been like this… or let’s say it’s very GTA Online. While some of the players are very excited about the rewards and the content, a large number of the comments are just people shouting about GTA 6. Different variations of “WHERE GTA 6” or “STOP WITH GTA ONLINE AND WORK ON GTA 6” are literally the thousands of comments on the posts. It has become a bizarre ritual that every announcement of GTA Online is followed by requests for the next game, as if the Rockstar social media team has the ability to decide on release dates.
A player named Pixel Throne expressed the absurdity of the situation very well, saying: “Triple rewards so I can earn extra fake money in a fake death match inside a fake car game instead of fixing my real life? Perfect, see you in Sumo, sanity not included.” That is and has always been the GTA Online experience in a nutshell—we know we should probably be doing something more constructive but the allure of virtual currency and crazy game modes is just too strong to resist.
On the other hand, some players have been pointing out problems that signal the need for economic balancing. User Chirag_S_kotian argued that, even with the triple rewards, the Sumo payouts would probably not be equal to doing the Cayo Perico Heist solo, which can get players upwards of $1.5 million per hour. This is the continuous fight that Rockstar has to endure. They need to bring back the old game modes’ attractiveness again without totally disrupting the in-game economy or making the new content irrelevant.
The returning of the Deadline mode with double rewards is not causing much of a stir, yet it might be the most fun part of this update for many players. If you have never heard of it, Deadline is a nail-biting, super-fast, and very high-tension light bike game where you leave trails of your color and try to make others lose by crashing into your trail. Think of it as a busting-up of Tron with GTA and with double the rewards, it becomes not only worth playing for the novelty factor. At least, in Deadline, your anxiety about unintentionally touching the light trail is well compensated, unlike in the sheer madness of the Transform Sumo.
Rockstar has heavily relied on community creators for keeping GTA Online alive and lively, which is really fascinating. The person behind kerlanhogan is not a member of the Rockstar team- he is just a talented artist who came up with this Transform Sumo mode that is now getting acknowledged with triple rewards. This strategy has been life support to the game for much longer than anyone could guess, with player-created content being the source of infinite variety, while Rockstar presumably develops… you know that other game everyone keeps asking for.
The whole scenario makes me think of that meme about the cow getting milked dry and one user even made a reference to that in their comment. GTA Online is a huge revenue source for Rockstar, and they keep finding new ways to milk it. Players get the milk but, at the same time, they complain and keep asking for a new cow. It’s a strange love-hate relationship where we are ready to jump into the new modes just for the extra rewards and at the same time we are tweeting angrily at Rockstar about the sequel.
And one thing is for sure, the timing of these updates has been very well thought out. The holidays are around the corner, and the number of players on PlayStation and Xbox is expected to surge.
